Mallya group's Rs 350-cr UB shares sold in 4th quarter

Significant portion of sales included unencumbered shares of UB (Holdings); stake of Mallya-controlled entities fall 1.58%

Three entities controlled by Vijay Mallya saw their shareholding in listed firm United Breweries fall during the January-March 2016 quarter.

The shareholding of UB (Holdings), McDowell Holdings and Kamsco Industries, all listed in the promoter group, decreased taking the overall holding of the Mallya group entities in UBL to 30.71 per cent at the end of March from 32.29 per cent reported in December 2015.

These numbers were reported in the latest shareholding pattern as of March 31, filed by United Breweries to the exchanges on Monday.

The sales have come at a time when Mallya has come under pressure to repay Rs 9,000 crore (Rs 90 billion) dues to a clutch of banks led by State Bank of India.

While UB (Holdings) sold 1.96 million shares, McDowell Holdings and Kamsco Industries saw their holdings decrease by 1.53 million and 0.7 million shares, respectively.

In all, 4.2 million shares were sold during the quarter.

At peak prices of Rs 842.6 a share, hit in late March, this would be worth Rs 353 crore (Rs 3.53 billion).

Further analysis of the shareholding data declared this week showed that out of the shares sold, 2.3 million shares were encumbered, suggesting these were offloaded by lenders, while the remaining were unencumbered shares, which could have been sold at the behest of Mallya.

The value of unencumbered shares sold comes close to Rs 170 crore (Rs 1.7 billion) at peak prices.

At a time when Mallya is facing significant pressure for repayment, the lenders could be keen to know how this money was spent.

An email sent to the Kingfisher Airlines spokesperson seeking comments did not elicit any immediate response.

The overall promoter holding in United Breweries fell lesser than the 1.58 per cent sold by Mallya.

This was because Heineken group entities used the opportunity to increase their stake by 0.8 per cent.

Heineken International increased its stake to 5.77 per cent from 4.97 per cent reported in March.

This has taken the Heineken group holding up to 43.18 per cent from 42.30 per cent reported in December.

The number of unencumbered shares sold by the Mallya group is roughly equal to the shares bought by the Heineken entity, according to the exchange filings.

Image: A file photo of UB group chairman Vijay Mallya during a news conference in Mumbai on June 14, 2005. Photograph: Punit Paranjpe/Reuters